97-931. Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and Northern Electric Power Company, LP; Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 15, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 2147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-931]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 5276-041]


Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and Northern Electric Power 
Company, LP; Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment

January 10, 1997.
    An environmental assessment (EA) is available for public review. 
The EA was prepared for an application to amend the license for the 
Hudson Falls Hydroelectric Project. The application would allow the 
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and Northern Electric Power Company, 
LP (licensees) to install temporary 2-foot-high wooden flashboards on 
the Hudson Falls Dam. The New York State Department of Environmental 
Conservation (NYDEC) requests the flashboards to facilitate an ongoing 
PCB investigation and remediation program at the General Electric 
Company's Hudson Falls manufacturing facility located on the opposite 
side of the river from the project. The NYDEC indicated the temporary 
flashboards would help to prevent high river flows from entering the 
work area below the dam and increase the safety of working conditions 
in the river channel during the PCB remediation program. The duration 
of the PCB remediation program may be long-term, requiring up to 10 
years to complete.
    Flashboards are currently installed on a portion of the dam to 
divert water during construction of the hydroelectric facility. The 
prosed action would allow for the completion of flashboards across the 
entire length of the dam from May 1 through November 30, as necessary, 
to protect workers and equipment during conduct of the PCB 
investigation and remediation program.
    The EA, written by staff in the Office of Hydropower Licensing, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, concludes the approval of the 
proposed action would not constitute a major federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Copies of 
the EA can be obtained by calling the Commission's Public Reference 
Room at [phone].

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-931 Filed 1-14-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M